This is a really consistent 29 minutes of hip hop from a rapper who still possesses one of the most unique and enjoyable rhyme patterns. It's more consistent than 2021's 'Doe Or Die II', but I think I enjoyed the best few on that more than here. I'm generally not a massive fan of two verse songs, that some of these are. Three verses gives you more choruses which makes the song stick in your head more and don't feel like they understay their welcome. Like some of the Nas/Hit-Boy collabs, the rapping is fire, but there isn't enough here in terms of hooks. That shows in that after six spins nothing has stuck with me on any high level. The production, all by Buckwild is nice, and from a producer who started in the early '90s, there is an element of freshness to what he's done. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Reintroduction, Still Got It, The Goat

"You motherf***ers thought Texas was country, but we got some motherf***ing funk for your funky ass bitc*" As the introduction hints us, this seems to be a southern group, but it does sound like a west coast album for the most part. It's a fairly normal and more than decent gangsta rap album, with some consciousness thrown in, until track 14 where it then becomes like a mini explicit Miami bass EP for 4 tracks, sounding influenced by 2 Live Crew. Just check out 'Pop Tha Boothy' that has lines such as, "So spread the word/I wanna make her feel like a turd/I'm all up in your intestines/which ho do I like/do you got any questions or suggestions/cause all I wanna know is can I pop that booty hole?" What's even more hilarious is that after all of that filth, they actually censor F*** on the highlight, 'Break Em Off Somethin', and have a clean version of 'Could You Please Save Me'... Amongst the songs, there are some vocal samples from the likes of Snoop and Cube and some nicely sung crooning hooks. I don't care for the Miami Bass sequence of songs from track 14-17 but most of the rest is enjoyable music. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Break Em Off Somethin, Player Young Thug, Come Up, Deadly Force, Going All the Way Out

This beings bangin' with 'Lift It', but like most E-40 projects, it lacks quality control and there are just too many songs that aren't hitting at a high enough level to rank this too highly. 'Stop Actin Like A Weirdo' has a goofy hook. 'Off That Mob' has likeable production but that hook gets annoying... "I GREW OFF OF THAT MOB!" Overall, I can't be too critical though as it's a consistently good album, but after about four spins, as I said, not enough jumps out at me. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Lift It, High-End, The Game, Pressure, Succaz, Get My Life Right

This is a compilation of some tracks that were intended for the double album from Nas titled, 'I Am… The Autobiography', that ended up on 'I Am', Nastradamus' and 'The Lost Tapes' with a couple of others thrown in, but there's no way this is better than the released 'I Am...' It's missing the best from that underappreciated album like: 'Nas Is Like', 'Undying Love', 'Favor for a Favor', 'Hate Me Now', 'N.Y. State Of Mind II'...I could go on. But it keeps weaker songs like 'Money Is My Bitch' and 'Dr. Knockboot'. I've never loved 'Project Window' or 'Poppa Was a Playa'. 'Day Dreamin' Stay Schemin'' is a weak song by Nas' standards mainly due to the hook. It would've been amazing if Nas and the label could've worked together to come up with the double disc release of what 'I Am… The Autobiography' was originally going to look like before the leaks but as one disc it just feels incomplete and like another tease. Best Tracks: Fetus, Small World, Sometimes I Wonder, Drunk by Myself, Blaze a 50

As expected, this is a long way off Pooh's best and unfairly overlooked albums from the '90s, but it's more consistently decent than his previous 2001 effort. The tail of the album is fairly strong where Pooh gets more conscious as it finishes sampling the amazing 'Free' by Deniece Williams on 'Free'. Some of the production on songs like 'Bang' is weak and sounds dated for a 2014 release. There are many nicely sung hooks that work well. I've had this album spinning for a while and it never gets annoying or too boring, but at the same time, there isn't a lot that is memorable or that stands out from the crowd. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Let a Beast On, Speaking My Mind, Players Life, Pray for Me, Free